The Dying Light (#8.06)

Big Finish, Companion Chronicles

Jamie, Zoe, and the Doctor land on a planet with a sand sea
and rocks that float with creatures “inside” of them. So they find a Sanctuary
and the head Abbott is Quadrigger Stoyn, the engineer who tagged along in the
TARDIS in The Beginning. And he’s not
really much of an evil/devious guy as much as nuts and looking for a way to
contact the Time Lords and get home. So it’ll be interesting to see what incarnation
he takes with the third story.

This story has a dance to it, back and forth between the
technology of the Time Lords and the simplicity of the way people live on this
planet. The tone is second Doctor through and through – as Frazer Hines
continues to do flawlessly with every story he does in the 2nd
Doctor’s voice. It’s pretty amazing how he does it! It’s to the point of not
even noticing just how magnificent the acting truly is for these stories. This
will be the really sad part of leaving the Companion Chronicles behind – no
more Jamie McCrimmon stories. Sigh. I will miss them terribly.

The only thing keeping this from being a 5 jelloid story is
the relative lack of character development of Kathryn, the person on the planet
they talk to the most. Johan is the scientist they meet right away but he
doesn’t last long. Kathryn is their envoy, helping them and telling them about
the city. But there just isn’t much to her! Sadly. And Stoyn isn’t really a
menace, just more a bit loopy. And not very good at planning for an old guy.
Otherwise it’s a really good story!